VOhi+e  4 .  r- 


PAM, 

AFRICA 


<£)ttr  listers;  tn 

tgppt 


/ 

MRS.  J.  P.  WHITE 


Egypt  Series 


Women's  General  Missionary  Society 
United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  North  America. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/oursistersinegypOOunit 


(§ur  listers  tn  €gppt 

Mrs.  J.  P.  White 

In  the  flowery  language  of  the  Arab,  there  are 
many  terms  of  endearment  used  in  the  common 
conversation  of  the  people.  Some  of  these  grow 
meaningless  because  of  common  usage,  yet 
some  always  seem  to  have  a  deep  significance. 
As  I  went  from  home  to  home,  in  Egypt,  and 
looked  into  the  dusky  faces  of  the  Egyptian 
women,  whose  lives  had  little  joy  in  them,  my 
heart  grew  warm  when  they  kissed  my  cheeks, 
pressed  my  hands,  and  exclaimed  “Oh,  my 
sister,  we  are  so  glad  to  see  you!”  Sisters  we 
are,  indeed.  The  whole  world  is  akin;  “For  God 
hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations.”  And  yet 
in  a  very  special  way  are  the  women  of  Egypt 
our  sisters.  God.  in  His  providence,  has  given 
the  land  of  Egypt  into  the  hands  of  our  United 
Presbyterian  Church  to  evangelize.  This  re¬ 
sponsibility  we  have  for  their  souls  ought  to 
draw  us  very  close  to  them.  In  order  to 
sympathize  with  them,  to  pray  for  them,  to  give 
to  them,  and  to  love  them,  we  need  definite 
intelligent  ideas  of  their  conditions. 

I  wish  I  could  make  you  understand  the 
poverty,  the  suffering,  and  the  vice  and  igno¬ 
rance  of  these  poor  women  who  are  our  sisters. 
I  wish  I  could  picture  to  you  the  forlorn  hope 
which  lies  before  every  Mohammedan  woman. 
As  a  babe  she  is  unwelcome ;  as  a  oihld,  un¬ 
taught;  as  a  wife,  unloved;  as  a  mother,  un¬ 
honored;  in  old  age  uncared  for,  and  when  her 
miserable,  dark  and  dreary  life  is  ended,  she 
is  unmourned  by  those  whom  she  has  served. 
There  is  no  Paradise  for  her,  unless  her  hus¬ 
band  choose  to  have  her  there.  Perhaps  the 
greatest  foes  to  her  peace  of  mind  and  happiness 


3 


are  the  customs  of  polygamy  and  divorce.  The 
prophet  Mohammed  gave  his  followers  the 
privilege  of  having  four  wives  at  once.  He, 
himself,  was  the  first  to  break  the  rule,  taking 
nine,  and  many  of  his  followers  have  far  ex¬ 
ceeded  that  number.  Indeed,  Ismail  Pasha,  a 
former  Khedive,  is  said  to  have  had  thirteen 
hundred  women  in  his  harem. 

The  Mohammedan  who  finds  a  wife  a  burden 
has  only  to  say  “I  divorce  thee,”  and  she  is 
forced  to  go.  He  may  repeat  those  words  to 
her,  and  yet  in  a  few  days,  if  he  repent,  he  can 
take  her  back  again.  But  if  he  say,  “I  divorce 
thee  by  the  triple  divorce,”  he  cannot  take  her 
back,  according  to  the  law  of  Islam,  until  she 
has  first  been  married  to  another  man,  and  been 
divorced  by  him.  Sometimes  he  may  hire  a 
servant  to  marry  her  and  divorce  her,  in  order 
that  he  may  bring  her  back  immediately. 

Many  of  the  women  live  in  constant  dread  of 
their  husbands.  As  one  poor  woman  said,  “You 
never  know  what  a  husband  will  say  the  next 
time  he  comes  into  the  house.  Perhaps  he  will 
say,  ‘you  are  divorced,’  so  it  is  best  to  get  out 
of  him  all  you  can.” 

Frequently  a  man  sitting  at  a  cafe  gets  into 
a  controversy  with  his  companions.  He  excitedly 
exclaims,  “If  what  1  say  is  not  true,  I  will 
divorce  my  wife!”  If  proven  wrong,  he  is  in 
honor  bound  to  divorce  the  innocent  wife,  who 
has  perhaps  for  years  served  him  as  faithfully 
as  she  knew  how.  Not  in  the  least  of  the 
trials  of  our  sisters  in  that  benighted  land  are 
the  abuses  they  suffer  from  the  men  of  the 
house.  For  a  trifling  offense  a  woman  is 
severely  *beaten  by  father,  husband,  brother  or 
son.  This  custom  is  so  common  that  even  the 
women  themselves  expect  a  whipping  occasion¬ 
ally.  Once  when  I  had  just  heard  of  a  desperate 
case,  I  expressed  my  views  on  the  subject  in 
emphatic  terms.  One  of  the  women  present 


4 


said,  “Oh,  my  lady,  you  do  not  understand  the 
Egyptian  women;  they  will  not  walk  straight 
unless  they  are  beaten!” 

These  women  are  ignorant  beyond  description; 
they  are  miserable  and  wretched,  I  care  not  in 
what  station  in  life  you  find  them.  The  poorest 
women  have  the  greatest  freedom.  They  may 
go  about  unveiled,  and  speak  with  the  men 
whom  they  meet;  but  their  lot  is  a  hard  one. 
Those  who  live  in  the  villages  labor  in  the 
fields  from  early  morn  until  late  at  night,  while 
those  who  live  in  the  cities  are  often  employed 
as  hod  carriers  for  the  masons. 

Frequently  have  l  seen  a  farmer  riding  on  a 
donkey,  while  his  wife  ran  along  behind  giving 
the  animal  a  prod  at  the  proper  moment  that  he 
might  maintain  a  pace  suitable  to  the  taste  of  the 
rider.  He  would  be  riding  with  his  hands  free, 
while  she  would  be  carrying  a  burden  on  her 
head.  I  have  been  told  that  often  the  rider 
would  require  his  attendant  to  repeat  rhymes 
and  stories  for  his  amusement  as  he  rode  along. 

The  middle  and  upper  class  women,  if  they 
go  out,  must  be  closely  veiled,  but  thousands 
are  never  allowed  to  go  out  of  the  house.  Ser¬ 
vants  are  employed  to  do  their  work  for  them, 
and  there  is  little  for  the  women  to  do  but  sit 
on  the  floor  and  gossip.  Think  of  women 
spending  a  lifetime  in  that  way,  never  reading, 
nor  knowing  anything  outside  the  neighborhood 
gossip.  Among  titled  people  of  Egypt  the 
women  of  the  harem  are  usually  Circassians, 
who  are  bought  and  paid  for  as  chattels.  The 
one  who  costs  the  most  never  fails  to  remind  the 
others  of  her  value. 

American  travelers  often  meet  Beys  and 
Pashas  at  the  large  hotels  in  Cairo.  They  ask, 
“Are  your  women  contented  and  happy  in  the 
harems?”  The  men  wisely  answer,  “Certainly; 
our  women  are  the  happiest  women  in  the 


5 


world.  They  have  jewelry  and  beautiful  dresses, 
and  servants  to  look  after  every  want.  Our 
women  prefer  the  seclusion  of  the  harems  to 
the  life  which  Western  women  lead.” 

Strange  to  say,  there  are  found  American  men 
— yes,  and  women,  who  believe  this  infamous 
falsehood.  And  yet  I  ask — How  can  any  woman 
of  sober  judgment  believe  her  sister,  of  what¬ 
ever  nation  or  color,  to  be  happy,  when  she  is 
sharing  the  affection  of  her  husband  with  a 
dozen  other  wives?  To  know  their  suffering 
one  need  to  hear  only  once  the  story  of  misery 
from  the  lips  of  one  of  these  unfortunate 
women. 

A  girl  of  my  acquaintance  was  the  seventh 
wife  of  a  rich  man.  He  divorced  five  wives, 
retaining  the  first  and  last.  One  day  she 
whispered  her  sorrows  in  my  ear.  “I  am  afraid,” 
she  said,  “that  my  husband  will  divorce  me,  and 
I  am  afraid  if  he  does  not  that  other  woman  will 
kill  me!”  She  turned  in  nervous  fear  and  dread 
to  see  if,  perchance,  even  then,  “that  other 
woman”  might  be  listening  to  her  words. 
“Among  the  women  in  harems,”  Mrs.  Bishop 
has  rightly  said,  “all  the  worst  passions  of  hu¬ 
man  nature,  such  as  jealousy,  envy,  murderous 
hate  and  intrigue,  are  stimulated  and  developed 
to  a  fearful  degree.” 

Into  these  homes,  the  Bible  women  and  mis¬ 
sionaries  are  entering  with  the  light.  Follow 
them  in  their  daily  rounds  and  visits  and  see  if 
it  is  not  a  happy,  blessed  privilege  to  carry  to 
those  in  darkness  the  gospel  which  alone  can 
transform  their  minds,  and  hearts,  and  homes. 

In  every  missionary  center,  a  great  work  is 
being  done  for  the  women  of  Egypt  by  the  lay 
missionaries  and  the  Bible  women  under  their 
direction.  They  enter  the  homes  of  the  poor, 
and  they  enter  the  homes  of  the  rich,  teaching 
the  women  to  read  the  Word  which  will  make 
them  wise  unto  salvation. 


6 


Were  this  work  considered  from  an  educa¬ 
tional  point  alone,  it  might  not  be  thought  highly 
successful.  Many  women  take  lessons  a  long 
time  and  never  get  beyond  the  primer,  yet  they 
and  their  families  and  their  neighbors  hear  the 
gospel  time  after  time.  On  the  other  hand  the 
teacher  finds  many  apt  pupils,  and  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  women  are  taught  from  infancy 
that  they  are  donkeys,  and  have  no  minds,  many 
learn  to  read  after  they  are  married  and  are 
encumbered  with  family  cares.  The  method  of 
conducting  this  work  is  simple.  The  Bible 
teacher,  with  primer  and  Bible  in  hand,  goes 
from  house  to  house,  giving  simple  lessons  in 
reading,  explaining  the  Word,  and  at  opportune 
times  praying  with  her  pupils.  Occasionally  the 
missionary  goes  with  her  in  her  rounds,  to  see 
how  she  is  doing  the  work,  and  to  give  en¬ 
couragement  and  cheer  to  the  pupils.  Let  us 
follow  them  for  a  little  and  see  what  conditions 
they  meet. 

They  wend  their  way  through  narrow,  ill¬ 
smelling  streets  for  a  long  distance.  A  knock 
at  the  door  of  an  humble  house  brings  a  cor¬ 
dial  greeting.  The  mother  makes  apology  for 
the  condition  of  the  house,  explaining  that  they 
have  not  yet  finished  the  morning  work.  The 
floor  is  mother  earth;  the  furniture  a  piece  of 
matting  in  one  corner,  which  serves  as  a  place 
to  sit  by  day,  and  a  place  to  sleep  by  night. 
The  children  are  dirty  and  suffering  from  sore 
eyes.  They  wear  girdles  or  charms  about  their 
waists,  and  have  charms  of  something  that  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  beeswax  appended  to  the  locks  of 
uncombed  hair,  to  keep  off  the  “evil  eye.” 

There  is  hope  even  among  people  in  such 
squalid  dwellings.  The  mother  and  daughter 
bring  their  books  and  spell  or  read  the  u'ords 
of  the  appointed  lesson.  A  few  neighbors  gather 
in  to  hear  this  great  wonder-  -women  reading, 
and  they  beg  the  teacher  to  come  to  their  houses 


7 


also.  The  missionary  then  asks  if  they  would 
like  to  hear  a  few  words  from  the  Holy  Book. 
They  listen  with  wide  open  eyes.  “What  a 
sweet  story!”  they  exclaim.  Then  the  teacher 
leads  in  prayer,  asking  that  the  Great  Teacher 
will  bring  them  into  the  light.  Coffee  is  brought, 
and  after  a  short  talk,  usually  on  religious 
topics,  the  teachers  go  on  to  another  house. 

As  they  go  in  they  see  the  young  mother 
crying.  She  holds  an  infant  in  her  arms  and 
several  small  children  cling  to  her.  Older 
women  try  to  comfort  her,  but  to  no  avail. 
“What’s  the  matter?”  the  visitors  ask.  Then 
the  young  mother  breaks  forth  in  piteous  weep¬ 
ing.  Between  the  sobs  she  tells  them  that  her 
husband  went  off  in  a  rage  that  morning  de¬ 
claring  he  would  divorce  her,  because  she  was 
the  mother  of  five  daughters  and  no  sons.  They 
talk  with  her  to  comfort  her,  and  go  away  trust¬ 
ing  that  God  will  hear  their  prayers  for  this 
troubled  one  and  change  the  heart  and  purposes 
of  her  tyrannical  husband. 

The  next  house  is  so  cheerful.  A  dear  little 
Christian  woman  who  had  had  no  opportunity 
to  go  to  school  in  childhood,  welcomes  her  dear 
sisters  to  her  home.  She  reads  her  lesson 
cheerfully.  She  has  learned  with  amazing 
rapidity.  She  has  read  almost  the  entire  Bible 
through  in  a  few  months.  She  asks  one  question 
after  another  about  the  Word,  and  begs  her 
visitors  to  prolong  their  stay.  They  drink 
coffee  with  her,  and  as  they  go  away  she  re¬ 
minds  them  that  she  wll  see  them  at  the  prayer 
meeting  in  the  afternoon.  Such  a  home  as  this, 
transformed  in  every  way,  gives  courage  and 
hope  to  labor  for  others  also. 

At  the  next  house  the  ladies  are  met  by  a 
servant,  who  ushers  them  into  a  beautiful  room 
which  is  furnished  luxuriously.  He  calls  the 
lady  of  the  house,  who  comes  after  a  long,  long 


8 


time,  bedecked  with  jewelry  and  dressed  in  a 
loose  silk  gown.  She  looks  sad  even  in  her 
finery.  She  reads  her  lesson  in  the  Bible,  asks 
a  few  questions,  then  becomes  silent.  After  a 
while  she  is  led  to  talk  about  herself.  She  re¬ 
minds  one  of  a  caged  bird  pining  for  green 
trees  and  blue  skies,  beating  its  wings  against 
the  door  in  vain  hope  for  release.  This  woman’s 
husband  had  forbidden  her  ever  going  out  of  the 
house.  She  grew  restless  and  rebellious  and 
went  out  the  day  before  for  a  stroll  ini  the 
garden,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  high  wall. 
O  luckless  hour!  What  should  happen  but  the 
return  of  her  husband  at  this  time  most  un¬ 
expected.  He  misjudged  her;  would  listen  to  no 
words  of  explanation  and  whipped  her  un¬ 
mercifully.  The  only  bright  spots  in  her  life  are 
the  visits  of  the  Bible  teachers,  two  or  three 
times  a  week.  She  gains  comfort  from  talks  and 
prayers,  and,  as  iher  visitors  go  away,  she 
promises  to  be  as  gentle  and  sweet  and  obedient 
as  possible  in  order  to  win  her  husband  to  the 
Christian  faith,  which  is  her  only  joy  and 
comfort. 

As  these  two  Christian  workers  walk  along, 
they  talk  over  the  sad  life  of  the  one  they 
have  just  left. 

Drawing  near  to  the  next  house  they  realize 
they  are  coming  to  another  sad  scene.  On  each 
side  of  the  street  are  seats  covered  with  carpet 
to  accommodate  the  men  who  have  come  to 
offer  sympathy  to  their  friends.  They  pass  on 
into  the  house,  not  to  give  a  lesson,  but  to 
speak  a  few  words  of  comfort.  The  house  is 
crowded  with  women,  who  are  drinking  coffee 
and  smoking  cigarettes.  Hired  mourners  are 
there  beating  their  breasts  and  screaming  to 
keep  the  friends  excited.  It  is  hard  for  one 
looking  on  to  distinguish  the  real  mourners 
from  the  artificial.  The  teachers  go  to  their 
friends,  whisper  a  few  words  of  consolation,  and 


9 


go  away,  commending  them  to  the  Great  Com¬ 
forter. 

In  the  next  house  they  find  a  bride — yes,  a 
bride  eleven  years  of  age.  She  stands  speech¬ 
less  in  the  august  presence  of  her  mother-in- 
law.  This  child-wife  had  been  a  bright  school 
girl.  Her  parents  had  a  good  opportunity  to 
marry  her  and  this  they  did  without  consulting 
her  wishes  in  the  matter.  She  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  take  lessons  at  home,  which  privilege 
was  granted.  Her  mother-in-law  is  cruel  and 
unsympathetic  with  all  the  new  notions  of 
female  education;  but  in  this  young  heart  has 
already  sprung  up  a  desire  for  knowledge  of 
heavenly  things  and  a  love  for  God’s  Word. 
Even  though  not  permitted  to  go  to  God’s  house, 
she  will,  in  her  humble  home,  as  she  has  learned 
Christ,  so  walk  in  Him. 

We  could  follow  these  workers  around  to  other 
homes  where  we  would  see  other  phases  of  life 
in  Egypt,  but  perhaps  these  are  enough  to  show 
that  every  day  they  meet  with  women  who  are 
bowed  in  sorrow  and  suffering;  women  who 
are  longing  for  just  such  words  of  comfort  as 
they  can  give. 

In  these  house-to-house  visitations  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  get  very  near  to  the  people.  They  re¬ 
joice  with  them  in  their  joys  and  sympathize 
with  them  in  hours  of  darkest  trial  and  sorest 
bereavement. 

The  results  of  the  harem  work  are  not  seen 
as  closely  as  those  of  other  departments  of  our 
mission  work,  and  yet  the  missionaries  are 
cheered  by  seeing  some  souls  brought  to  accept 
Christ  and  some  homes  elevated  by  this  agency. 

While  in  the  whole  of  Egypt  only  six  women 
per  thousand  can  read — in  our  Protestant  com¬ 
munity  over  two  hundred  women  per  thousand 
can  read. 


10 


There  has  been  an  increase  in  the  attendance 
at  our  women’s  meetings.  There  is  a  great 
hunger  and  thirsting  for  the  Word  of  Life  all 
over  the  land.  There  are  hundreds  of  women 
who  are  willing  and  anxious  for  the  teachers  to 
come  tc  them.  They  are  calling  them;  they 
are  pleading  for  their  help;  they  are  crying,  “O 
give  us  the  light.” 

The  missionaries  refuse  them — not  because 
they  care  not,  for  their  hearts  are  aching  for 
those  who  must  be  turned  away.  They  have  to 
refuse  to  give  them  the  Gospel  light,  because 
Christians  compel  them  to  do  so.  How  can  we 
stand  guiltless  before  God  when  we  have  spent 
our  gold  and  our  silver  for  luxuries  and  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  our  sisters  in  Egypt  who  are 
crying  for  the  Bread  of  Life? 

If  we  could  realize  that  they  are  our  own 
sisters  we  would  strain  every  nerve  to  send  help, 
we  would  make  any  sacrifice  to  save  them.  They 
are  our  sisters  who  are  dying;  they  are  our  own 
sisters  who  are  being  turned  away  from  the  true 
light  because  we  do  not  give  enough  to  keep 
them  there;  they  are  our  sisters  who  are  begging 
to  be  told  again  and  again  the  sweetest  story 
they  ever  heard. 

Shall  not  the  women  of  our  church  say,  as 
did  David,  “Neither  will  1  offer  unto  the  Lord 
my  God  of  that  which  cost  me  nothing,”  and 
then  plan  to  make  some  sacrifice  for  God’s  work 
in  Egypt? 

With  this  spirit  of  sacrifice  and  with  our 
prayers  uniting  daily  at  the  mercy-seat,  we  have 
the  sweet  assurance  that  great  blessings  will  be 
bestowed  upon  our  sisters  in  Egypt. 


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